Since first becoming a mom I’ve taken deep pride in keeping traditions from my own childhood alive with my daughters. Our favorite holiday to-do’s always include baking cookies for Santa, doing a ‘dressed-up’ lunch-plus-shopping trip and going to a local lot to pick out our real Christmas tree.

I’ve never had a fake tree — ever. For nine years, my daughters and I created a yearly tradition/quest of running up and down aisles of pine needles at our local lots to compare and negotiate which trees were prettiest, which ones would fit in our corner, which ones smelled the best. (Same thing I did when I was a little girl, with my family.) We’d then either plop it on top the car (for my husband to help unload when we got home) or I’d arrange for delivery (to which hubs would say, “Why are you paying an extra $30 for delivery — pop it on top of the car!”). Either way, Hubs didn’t get it. “Just join the rest of the world and get a fake one already!” he’d laugh. He hated the inevitable mess in our den as I’d manually lace hundreds of lights through the branches. He also hated having to drag it to the curb for special green pickup in January.

I always argued, “If you don’t have pine needles all over your floor, it’s not a real Christmas!”

What changed my mind this year? Life. (And maybe the thought of dealing with all those pine needles when my brain was already convoluted with too much ‘life.’) Last year’s devastating loss plus… 2018’s launch of a slide of not-so-great situations — lost jobs (me), a broken arm (my daughter), a fender-bender (me), a shattered knee with no walking for 2+ months (my husband) and weird unexpected worries and conflicts I can’t get into here — countless emotional, mental and physical pitfalls to figure out and get past. Reinventing my usual holiday formula will surely usher in a refreshed and renewed energy and spirit, right? Right.

I’d be faking my Christmas spirit this year, so what better time than to get a fake tree?

I found the best looking falsies on Instagram and ordered one pronto — sight unseen (that’s how desperate I was). FAKE IT WILL BE. I’m officially naming this experience ‘The Fail That’s Getting Me Feeling Good.’

Because if we don’t figure out how to feel good fast when we need it, that’s bad news for our kids… and you can’t fake good parenting no matter what.

Our most important jobs as moms is to SOLVE — to keep getting up, to create family happiness through stability — and this includes being gentle with ourselves when we ain’t feeling something that used to make our heart sing, regardless of what our opinion was previously. I used to smack-talk fake Christmas trees, but a sparkling, plastic winter-white sapling (with 800 lights already on it omggggg I don’t need to manually wrap lights around branches?!?!) is proving to be one of my best solutions this year. For. My. Sanity.

It arrived in a box, we popped it up and my girls and I decorated it together, at night, with our best Christmas music blasting — our tradition. My husband was so proud (lol) — “Finally!” he pronounced.

It was gorgeous. The most real fake gorgeous thing I’d ever had in my home.

“So does this mean we’re not going to pick out a real one, Mommy?” their big eyes looked a little sad, after we all oooh-ed and aaah-ed about how beautiful and easy and fun our new tree was. My heart hurt a little. “Maybe we can go hunt the lot for a small one, for old time’s sake…” I smiled. “For the dolls!” my LilMiss bursted. “Yes, for the dolls.”

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Get Social…

meet the mommy

Hi all. Jill Simonian here. Welcome to TheFabMom®. I’m a TV Host & Entertainment Journalist turned Parenting Lifestyle Contributor on-air and online -- my most recent, long-running gig was on CBS LOS ANGELES -- over 175 twice-weekly segments & discussions about today's hottest and most concerning parenting issues on KCAL-9 & CBS-2 news (between Feb 2016 & Jan 2018)! You might also know me from NBC's TODAY Show, HLN, Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" & more. Oh yeah, I'm an author now too: The FAB Mom's Guide: How to Get Over the Bump & Bounce Back Fast After Baby is available for first-time pregnant moms (and baby shower gifts!) NOW... Here's the bumpy backstory: Several years ago, I ended up to two *unplanned* baby girls (now ages 8 and 6) probably because I was working like crazy, chasing jobs and celebrities, had just gotten married and wasn't really paying attention to how exactly babies were made. (Whoops.) LadyP dropped in September 2010 and LilMiss barged in March 2012. TheFabMom® was born in 2011 as a living lifestyle experiment to cope with my then irrational fear of motherhood: To keep life Focused-, Fierce-, Fun- & as close to Freakin-Fabulous as possible 'After Babies' (get it: f-a-b). Here you will find my personal stories, fave products & 'filosophical' rants (yes, everything here starts with an 'F'). There are fails and occasional F-bombs... to motivate, educate, support, call B.S. & of course, entertain. Basically, TheFABMom is about staying resilient through momlife and beyond...